Bali questions.

[Skookumchuck]

Hi all,
I'm heading to Indonesia at the end of May for three weeks. Our ultimate destination is the Black Manta live aboard out of Labuan Bajo but I'll have the better part of a week waiting for my dive buddy on Bali then two or three days together on Bali before flying to Flores. The plan so far is for me to head to Amed where he'll join me and dive out of Puri Wirata. Any advice is welcome and particularly concerning money. Should I bring cash? And how much should I count on for each day?

 

[Lorenzoid]

My wife and I did the Black Manta Komodo trip and loved it.

We will also be in Bali in May.

How much cash to bring? Are you planning to pay for your whole trip in cash, or do you plan to use credit cards for some things, such as diving? On our last trip, we withdrew cash from ATMs and luckily did not have our cards skimmed or anything like that. And of course, what is your budget? It also goes without saying that if you're staying in cheap places and eating cheap food, you need less cash than someone staying at a fancy resort and eating in nice restaurants. Do some Googling on travel sites to find out what things cost.

 

[indiedive]

Withdrew cash from ATM is relatively safe in Bali and other Indonesia's region in general. I also use my CC (Dutch bank) aside to my maestro debit card in Indonesia and they worked fine. It's just that not all Indonesian Banks ATM accept foreign banks.

ATM BCA and BNI usually accept maestro, cirrus and It'l credit card (visa/master cards).

 

[JohnN]

Withdrew cash from ATM is relatively safe in Bali and other Indonesia's region in general. I also use my CC (Dutch bank) aside to my maestro debit card in Indonesia and they worked fine. It's just that not all Indonesian Banks ATM accept foreign banks.

ATM BCA and BNI usually accept maestro, cirrus and It'l credit card (visa/master cards).

My wife's and my ATM cards were hacked in Bali last September. The best guess is that someone compromised the ATM and was pulling the details after hacking the internals (we were both very careful to look for card skimmers)

Be careful and be sure to monitor your email, our banks (Chase and BoA) were very good about telling us and reversing the charges. Fortunately we found out about the hack before our accounts were emptied and on the way home, so we were not without the use of the cards.

Our best guess was it was in convenience store, so stick with bank kiosks, You'll see the air conditioned booths that look like old-fashioned telephone booths

 

[indiedive]

@JohnN I am sorry to hear this, that's awful!
Good advice to stick withdrew money at the bank kiosks or ATM at the bank itself.

 

[Adelaar Cruises]

Greetings from Indonesia Skookumchuck,

Found this post on TA regarding ATM's in Amed. There are some, however, you must be careful with scams and realize that these may/may not be operational during your stay or filled regularly, plus they only pay out 2,000,000 ($150) per withdrawal. How much you need daily depends on how much you've prepaid (i.e. diving, food, transportation...etc.)

Protect yourself from a scam 1-Try and pull the card reader out, don't break it, but see if it's permanently attached. 2-Try and lift the key pad, again see if it's actually attached 3-After you punch in your numbers, rub your fingers over all the numbers, this way they cannot use a heat scanner APP (downloadable on smartphones) to read your 4-6 digit combination (I know it's sounds crazy, but it can actually be done). 4-Don't let your card out of your view

New ATM's in Amed - Amed Message Board - TripAdvisor

Have an excellent dive adventure!

Cheers,

 

[charlier]

I usually get funds out the ATM in the airport or at a bank ATM. From my experience, the best exchange (compared to Singapore), is at the airport kiosks before you go thru duty free to the outside world. best...

 

[JohnN]

. . . plus they only pay out 200,000 ($150) per withdrawal . . .,

As my old chemistry professor used to say. . . "What is a couple orders of magnitude between friends" You need to add an additional zero. US$150 ~ 2,000,000 IDR

 

[Bali-Freak]

Here's a pretty definitive guide to card skimming: http://krebsonsecurity.com/all-about-skimmers/. Some of these crooks are amazingly ingenious. If they put their mind to a legitimate business they could probably make zillions.

Just want to mention too that I've lived in Bali for years and years. I've never been skimmed, don't know anybody who has been skimmed, and as far as I know I don't know anybody who knows anybody who's been skimmed (hope I didn't just jinx myself). Like in most things, keep your wits about you and you'll probably be okay.